Jamaica Today: People, Culture, and Environment
About the Program
This winter the Africana Studies Department at UMass Boston offers a program on location in Jamaica.
The program is designed to facilitate an understanding of Jamaica through total immersion in different aspects of the country. The program will explore the culture, environment, language and literature of Jamaica, and the country’s economic, political, and social realities. Activities will include presentations by local experts and visits to significant historical and cultural sites in Jamaica, such as the National Gallery, Bob Marley Museum, Morant Bay, Mooretown, and Maroon Settlement in Accompong Town.
Participants will spend the first two weeks of the program at the University of the West Indies in Kingston and the final week in Treasure Beach in Southern Jamaica where, in addition to attending daily classes, they will work in a field project.
Prior to departure, there will be a preparatory seminar at UMass Boston that will include background lectures and readings designed to give students an introduction to the historical, economic, political, and social context of Jamaica.
courses and credit
Participants register for two 3-credit courses:- AFRSTY 480 Jamaica Today
- AFRSTY 478 Independent Study
The Independent Study project will be completed upon the participants’ return from Jamaica.
faculty
Professor Marc Prou is Director of Caribbean Studies and a faculty member of the Africana Studies Department. Professor Prou has extensive experience in Caribbean countries and regularly takes study groups abroad to Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.